The Sound Of Running is the running blog of Marcus Ryder it accompanies the audio diary; audioboo.fm/TheSoundOfRunning and twitter feed of @RunningRyder. It charts the thoughts, musings and life of a keen amateur runner who is trying to figure out why he runs and why he loves it.
Warning: this blog will not make you a faster runner, slimmer or fitter. But hopefully it will make you think.

Sunday, 14 April 2013

Are Marathon Runners Children of Thatcher?

Two days ago I wrote a blog post on how running might
be an antidote for the worse excesses of materialism associated with Thatcher.
Very few people want to be thought of as materialistic and so as a runner this
was a comforting tale to tell myself.

But two days, and a few chats with my wife, later I'm
not so sure that running is a spiritual “cure” for the “evils” of Thatcherism
("evil" in inverted commas depending which side of the political divide you are).
Maybe running instead of being an "antidote" to the materialism of
the 80's is the perfect Thatcherite sport and a reflection of Anglo-Saxon
individualism.

Let me explain why mass participation running might
capture the spirit of the 1980’s down to a “T” (pun intended):

First of all mass participation running, like the
London Marathon, took off in the 80’s, this happened simultaneously as the
trade union movement declined.

Secondly running is all about the individual. You
might have thousands of people descend on a single race but we are all running
alone. It is the ultimate physical manifestation of the capitalist rat race and
the (in)famous Thatcher misquote; "there is no such thing as society".

Where once we had tried to achieve things as a team
(be that football, cricket or rugby) now we believe we can only achieve things
alone (marathon running).

What matters to us is our individual times, our
individual places. We might not think we are going to win but none of us want
to come last.

Is it any wonder the French were suspicious of
President Sarkozy's running? He admires Thatcher and his running was seen as
part of his right wing, Anglo-Saxon leanings. Is it a surprise that it's
Matthew Paris (an ex-Conservative MP) who has the fastest marathon time for any
MP? (And let's not forget Seb Coe - although he's never run a marathon).

Running is all about the individual and surprise,
surprise just as you had an ideology that championed the individual over the
community marathon running took off!

So which of my blog posts is correct? What is the true
nature of mass participation distance running and Thatcher’s legacy? An
activity that grew up in response to Thatcher's materialism helping people
fight against the era’s excesses or a sport that captured the zeitgeist of the
age - there is no such thing as society and we are all individuals.

I want to have my cake and eat it too because the
truth is they are both correct.

Running is about releasing the potential of the
individual. It captures the aspirational nature in us all to be the best we can
be. A nature that so many of Thatchers policies tapped into, possibly the
reason she won three elections. But being the best you can be doesn't have to
be materialistic and I believe that running combats this unbridled materialism
like no other activity (as explained in my previous post).

The only thing I worry about now is whether running is
really a middle way and instead of being a Thatcherite legacy is a New Labour
phenomenon. We are all Blair’s babies now whether we like it or not!

(The picture I've picked today is of Margaret Thatcher holding up three fingers after she won her third General Election - it's a purely personal choice because next Sunday I will be running my third marathon)

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About Me

I am a keen amateur runner. I love running but I'm more interested in what running can help me discover about myself and life than what I can tell the world about running. Running is not simply putting one foot in front of the other as fast and for as long as possible any more than meditation is simply closing your eyes sitting cross legged on the floor